


And Take a Stand at Shinra

by CatatonicEngineers



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020), Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children
Genre: Animal Crackers and Lil Stamp
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-17
Updated: 2020-07-17
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:34:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25339198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CatatonicEngineers/pseuds/CatatonicEngineers
Summary: Reeve's adventures in babysitting. A poorly written, overly sugary, babysitter’s club fanfic featuring Lil Stamp and lots of animal crackers.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 102





	And Take a Stand at Shinra

There was a child in the parking garage. That alone was strange enough considering Shinra’s executive level lot was reserved for the president’s inner party whose nefarious activities fell more on the side of violent shakedowns and shadow military ops than childcare. At least, Reno had never seen any of them with a kid. Maybe there was a drop-in daycare somewhere in the C Block. Damned if he knew.

But this kid wasn’t at daycare. It was sitting in a car, unattended, with the window rolled up. He would’ve stomped out his cigarette and walked away, but he’d made eye contact with it. When he inched towards the elevator, the little girl’s huge brown eyes followed him with some horrible unspoken kid-judgment.

“Shit.” The heel of Reno’s boot screeched as he turned back. Was he really a terrible person for leaving a child in a car on a hot day?

Elena’s sharp snipping answered his unspoken question. “Oh my god, Reno, were you really gonna turn around and leave?” He hadn’t heard his colleague approach, but now that she stood at the foot of the stairwell it was clear she’d seen the kid too.

“I’m just out here on my smoke break, okay?” Reno wagged his arms, blowing a hazy grey trail from the lit cigarette between his thumb and forefinger.

“It’s a hundred degrees outside!” Elena balled her hands.

“The AC’s probably on.” He risked another look at the kid. She was eating animal crackers. The car seat was supposed to look like a fluffy, yellow chocobo, but the head was facing backwards and the seat belt was wrapped around the front passenger’s seat.

“That’s not up to code.” Rude never spoke more than ten words at a time and yet he’d saved them up to stab at Reno’s barely there conscience.

A long suffering groan punctuated his next move. He rubbed his eyelids before turning to his partner. “So what am I supposed to do about it?”

“Isn’t that the director’s car?” Elena squinted. A slither of florescent yellow light caught the new paint; jet black, special edition or some shit. He’d heard about that model on the radio.

Reno snorted. “Yeah, word around the water cooler is he got some huge ass bonus for that secret mission of his.” Turks conducted espionage all the time without so much as an extra PTO day. Fuck Reeve and fuck his brand new car. “I’m gonna break the window.” Reno reached for his MAG rod, but Elena jumped in front of him. He paused, tapping the weapon on his shoulder.

“You can’t just break his car!” She threw her arms out to defend Tuesti’s ride.

“Thought you wanted me to do something?” Reno smirked.

“It says you’re supposed to break a window.” Rude was looking at his phone.

“No, that’s what you do for dogs.” Elena didn’t lower her arms.

“Okay,” Reno frowned. “So whaddaya do for kids?” He cocked his head back at Rude.

After a moment’s searching, his partner shook his head and put his phone away with a shrug.

Elena heaved a sigh. “Just do it.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Reno walked up to the car and tapped on the window. He pointed back at the seat, motioning for the kid to take cover. It wasn’t like it was properly seat belted in anyway. Once the brat got the message and ducked on the floor, he slammed the MAG rod into the window. Safety glass shattered across the white leather interior. “My work here is done.”

Elena beamed and clapped imaginary dust from her hands. She punched the elevator button and Reno figured they were all feeling pretty damn heroic until the doors opened and their boss stepped out.

Tseng didn’t really have expressions. There was neutral frown and rage frown. Today was rage frown.

He took one appraising look at them and made no effort to hide his disgust. “Why aren’t you all at work?”

“Smoke break.” Reno shrugged.

Whatever had him so riled left little room for annoyance over Reno’s habit of taking five breaks a day before noon. “Break’s over. We have a situation.”

A heavy sigh filled with the last traces of his cigarette punctuated Reno’s lingering silence.

“The terrorist leader’s daughter was being held in custody. She’s somewhere inside the building. Find her immediately and detain her. If she escapes, we lose our leverage on AVALANCHE.”

“Oh,” Reno risked letting his gaze wander back to the car. There were no brown eyes staring back at him. The back seat was a litter of glass and abandoned animal crackers. “Oh shit.”

\-----------

Shinra’s executive lobby had the kind of floors you could slide across if you were wearing socks. While the prospect was tempting, Marlene Wallace kept her sturdy, brown boots laced up and her Lil Stamp backpack firmly across one shoulder.

Even if the building looked friendly, Shinra wasn’t. They only had nice glass overlooks and shiny blue stairs because they made lots and lots of money that they stole from the planet and the people down below. And the planet was sad because people were hurting her. The people down below were sad too. They never saw the sky and the plate could drop on them any time it felt like it.

That’s why Shinra had to be stopped. She clutched the strap of her backpack tighter. Not even the friendly smiles of the receptionists could be trusted. Everyone at Shinra was bad, except Lil Stamp cause he was really a good boy. He was only pretending to be on Shinra’s side, but really he helped AVALANCHE. That was what Daddy said.

Daddy also said that if she ever got separated from her babysitter, she needed to find a nice grown-up right away and tell them she was lost. Tifa never lost her though. And there weren’t any nice grown-ups besides the man with the red ponytail who smashed Kitty’s car. That meant Marlene was going to have to rescue her babysitter herself.

She paused to listen, bobbing up and down on her toes. The main lobby was flooded with people in suits rushing around like they had somewhere to be. Probably off to hurt the planet some more. The people who’d smashed the window raced past her without noticing.

“Wait, Tuesti got arrested?”

“Shhh! They’re trying to keep it quiet.”

“Tuesti? Reeve Tuesti? That guy won’t even break the speed limit.”

“I heard he snapped because of the Lil Stamp issue.”

“What? Oh, right, the graffiti. Well, he shouldn’t be Head of Urban Development if –”

Marlene jolted forward to follow the only familiar voices she knew when a hand on her shoulder stalled her. She looked up at the fake smile of one of the lobby staff. Steeling her scowl in an imitation of the toughest grimace Daddy had taught her, she squeezed her backpack and prepared for a fight.

“Not that way, honey,” the woman spoke too quickly, the way grown-ups did when they were worried. Her crisp white blouse had a coffee stain down one sleeve. “The president’s suite is, uh,” she hesitated. “Undergoing renovations.”

“From that big explosion?” Marlene wiped her nose with the back of her hand. There was an explosion when the plate fell too.

“That was just the fireworks from the president’s birthday celebration.” This lady was bad at lying. She herded Marlene towards a group of school children lined up outside the Shinra Museum. The tour leader held a blue flag and called out the first two exhibits. “Run along with your group now or you’ll miss the best part.”

She didn’t have much of a choice. The herd of children and teachers jostled her along through the neon lit halls of the museum. She’d been there a few times on field trips, but she never liked it. Daddy said Shinra lied about everything, even things like the spaceships they had in the last gallery.

The group paused in front of a map of the building, all lit up in pink. Beside it, a hologram of her babysitter stood explaining the city’s layout and public transit system. She jerked forward before realizing it was only part of the tour.

“Excuse me?” Marlene tugged on the tour guide’s sleeve. “Where do people go when they get arrested?”

The lady lowered her flag a bit. “Um, what was that, dear?”

“Jail.” Marlene declared. “Where’s Shinra jail? I’m looking for my babysitter.”

“Oh, sweetie, no,” the tour guide cast a sweeping glance at the rest of the group. The other kids were whispering to each other. “Shinra’s security personnel ensure there’s no threats to public safety within the building. Why, just this morning they tested that innovative new explosive designed to repel intruders and keep the people of Midgar safe.”

“I thought that was for the president’s birthday?” Marlene frowned.

The lady glared at her. “If there was ever a need to detain anyone, the holding area on the third floor features maximum security cells guarded by Shinra’s finest operatives. Any aggressive agents are then transported to the Slums’ central prison. No need to worry.”

The group moved on, but the tour guide was wrong. Marlene was worried. Very worried. Lil Stamp had never broken out of a prison before and she wasn’t sure she knew how to either. Bobbing up and down on her heels, she lingered around the hologram and tried to think of a plan.

Pacing usually helped. She’d seen Cloud do that sometimes. It didn’t seem to be working for her though and she was on her fourth lap when she crashed into a black suit. Rubbing her head, she stared up at the frowning face of the bald window-smasher.

Marlene backed up. He seemed to be alone, but his friends were never far off. She felt her throat go tight. Leaning on her heel, Marlene wondered if she could outrun him.

She jumped when he dropped a plastic key card at her feet.

“Go find find your babysitter.”

\-----------

“Dammit, what’s the password for this?” Kyahaha held the data pad out, plastic nose crinkling as much as years of cosmetic surgery would allow.

Reeve stared at his former colleagues with dry resign. “Why don’t you try Password123? Isn’t that what Heidegger uses?”

The remark earned him a backhanded smack across the jaw. His head snapped against the chair, arms tied to the cold metal. So much for popping in for fifteen minutes to grab some quarterly reports and leave. There wouldn’t be any leaving, not now. As if to prove his point, Gyahaha once again suggested executing him immediately. The day had progressed fairly far beyond spreadsheets and numbers.

“We can’t shoot the guy who does public transit PSA’s on live television.” Kyahaha threw her high heeled foot down. “Think of the optics.” She slid Cait Sith’s data pad across the table. “I knew you were the wrong choice for this job. You’ve always been too soft. A gutless coward like you wouldn’t have the nerve to take down AVALANCHE.” She motioned to the data pad. “Unlock it.”

Reeve tilted his head to stare past her at the framed Shinra poster. A blurb of white text stating the company’s values, or lack thereof, adorned the conference room wall. Silence was a practiced response to whatever taunts were hurled his way. She was right, he was the wrong person for the job. It shouldn’t have come as a surprise that he’d failed their little espionage mission. Stuffed animals were soft and useless.

“Dammit!” Scarlet grabbed his hair and slammed his head on the ringing metal. “We know you’ve been spying for those terrorists. What did you send them?”

Before he could answer, Gyahaha slapped a manila folder over the data pad.

Reeve raised his eyebrows at it while Scarlet rifled through the photocopies of his emails contained within. He realized they’d printed the attachments off too when she held out a picture of the vending machine.

“How many executives does it take to fix a soda machine?” She read the caption aloud before flipping to the next photo. “Take a shot every time Heidegger misuses basic grammar.”

Gyahaha snorted with more surprise than rage. Reeve supposed he was still under the delusion that they were civil. Most coworkers didn’t suspect the depth of one’s hatred.

“If you multiply the number of times Kyahaha and Gyahaha laugh at their own jokes by the depth of their collective IQ, the answer will still be zero.” It took a moment for Scarlet’s left eye to twitch. “Wait, am I Kyahaha? And why is ‘FuckShinra77’ calling me a bitch?”

“Who said you should expense a thousand stuffed moogles under my account?” Heidegger shouted.

“It doesn’t matter.” Scarlet pulled a lighter from her dress, which was a wonder in of itself since there was absolutely no place to keep one. The flames crawled up the folder and spewed burnt plastic smell throughout the room. “It’s over, Reeve. You’re a fucking traitor who’s going to die like a dog for his crimes.”

“Cat.” Reeve murmured.

“And you know what the most tragic part of this story is?” Kyahaha wasn’t done.

Not wanting to give her the satisfaction of asking, Reeve met the inquiry with a sharp glare.

“If you’d just done your goddamn job, the plan to rebuild Sector 7 would’ve been priority one, fully funded and completed by the end of the year. But I guess you never really cared if the people of Midgar suffered.” A twisted smirk moved the high planes and arches of her angular face. “You couldn’t stop the plate from falling anymore than you can stop the reactors from melting down. Take the director to the holding cells. We’ll deal with him after the current crisis blows over.”

The SOLDIERs lingering by the doors jerked Reeve to his feet. He flexed his sore wrists, scowling at the missing cuff link around one sleeve. “I had my assistant clean out my desk. If I may –”

A disgusted sigh twitched the bridge of Scarlet’s nose. “Fine, but make it quick.”

The brief walk to Urban Development had never seemed longer. Reeve’s stomach dropped with the elevator as it rang one floor, two, then three. When he stepped out, flanked by SOLDIERs, Kunsel was waiting in the lobby.

“Director!” Kunsel chased after them as Reeve made a hasty dash for his office. “Someone wrote ‘fuck Shinra’ on the Lil Stamps again. That’s your department, right?”

“Not now, Kunsel.” Reeve murmured.

“So,” Kunsel dragged the word out. Reeve’s assistant was waiting outside his office to hand off the small box she’d managed to fill. Nothing especially useful; schematics for the reactors, calculator, anxiety pills, half finished green tea, coding software, a succulent, pomade, drafting tools, and Cait Sith #3. The plush flopped lifeless over the cardboard. #3 wasn’t finished, but if he could get the stuffed cat’s mechanical innards in working order and link it to a data pad, there was a small chance of escape. “Should I tell senior management that you’re gonna take care of it?”

Reeve paused, one hand resting on #3. “No, Kunsel,” his tone maintained its practiced, neutral inflection. A cheap plastic placard with the title “Director” was visible beneath the loose tea packets. He wondered how many of the other executives could say they spent half their time scrubbing vandalism off a cartoon dog. “You can tell them to go fuck themselves.”

Apparently years of not rocking the boat, of putting up with office politics, of turning the blind eye to atrocities, of attending Hojo’s goddamn mandatory birthday party in the conference room, made even the smallest defiance erratic and dangerous. Unstable enough to get him tossed into a maximum security holding cell with every other dangerous criminal, terrorist, or common psychopath caught trying to shove a pipe bomb down the mail slot.

The automated door zipped shut almost noiselessly behind him. As he clutched the box, Reeve reflected that the whole triple agent issue hadn’t helped his case either. Once they could arrange a suitable cover story, he’d be met with a quick bullet to the head and a hasty burial that probably involved a trash compactor.

If his cellmates didn’t slit his throat first.

There were four other prisoners in the cramped room and not much else. Minimalist was a nice way to put it, as if the piss smelling bare floors were a modern architectural marvel. It couldn’t have been far from what his new roommates’ were used to. They looked like they lived in the scummiest hole one could find under the plates and only made it topside for the occasional carjacking. They must’ve picked the wrong higher up to land them here.

“Gentlemen,” Reeve nodded at the murderous stares directed at him. He dropped the box on the floor and looked for a tolerably clean place to sit. He had to fix #3. If there was any chance of getting out alive, it was in that tiny, stuffed cat. Reeve clapped the dirt off his tailored suit and settled for leaning against the wall. The dress code seemed to be ripped jeans and leather biker vests. Oh well. No one had told him.

“The hell did a suit like you do to end up here, topsider?” The leader of the bunch sneered through busted teeth.

Shrugging, Reeve pulled Cait Sith out of the box and frowned at the cat’s dangling arm, stuffing bubbling from the shoulder and exposed wires dangling loose. This was going to be a challenge. He grabbed a screwdriver and adjusted the bolt on the opposite side.

“That a stuffed animal?” Annoyance crept into his tone at Reeve’s lack of response.

“Yes,” he acknowledged without looking up.

Loud, grating laughter followed. “This idiot brought a plushie with ‘em!”

“Isn’t this the asshole who built the mako reactors?” The scrawnier thug shouted.

The first one paused. “I thought he looked familiar. Seen your face at the Shinra Museum, stuffed animal.” A switchblade caught the flickering fluorescent light. “Let’s see if you’re full of fluff or if you bleed like the rest of you topsider pricks.”

Reeve snapped his head up. Every second was another one wasted that he could’ve been fixing #3. “Listen, you uncreative simpleton. We can stand around fighting each other or you can shut up and let me concentrate while there’s still a chance to take down Shinra. I took out Don Corneo in Wutai. I did time at Corel Prison and crawled my way out again with Dio’s stamp of approval. I assure you, my innards are more than fluff.” He held the cold glare for another moment before returning his attention to wires and screws.

Murmurs turned to panic as the thugs backed away from him. If they were trying to be discrete, they were doing a terrible job of it. Alarmed whispers about how no one escaped Corel reached his ears. Cait Sith’s circuits were all a mess and untangling them while listening to his cellmates question the boldness of dropping Dio’s name made his work clumsy.

“Get back, let the man work.” Their leader shoved them away. “Quit crowdin’ him.”

Squeezing his eyes shut, Reeve massaged his temples. His head was pounding. He fumbled with the small plastic pill bottle, but he couldn’t get the cap off before he was interrupted again. Reeve blinked down at the thug’s phone. His thin patience dissolved with the momentary distraction. “Is that a first edition House of Mog plushie?”

“Sure as hell is!” His cellmate thumbed through the pictures of toadstool patterned moogles. “With the extra rare blue pom pom.”

“No way!” Reeve grabbed the phone and zoomed in. He was surprised Shinra WiFi still worked in the cells.

“I’ve been savin’ up for it and it’s finally on sale.” The thug was beaming with pride by the time he handed the phone back.

“The boss is a serious plushie collector.” One of the others supplied.

“I dunno though. I gotta pay all these fines to the city now if I ever wanna get outta this place.” He frowned at the phone before putting it away. “Sorry I gave you shit before. It’s just a sore spot, okay? Everyone’s always saying I need to grow up and invest in a retirement fund or somethin’ instead of buying so many plushies.”

“No, you should definitely buy it.” Reeve agreed. “The fines will be there. That’s a rare collectible, an art piece. Anyone who disagrees is an ignorant pawn of the system.”

“Yeah, that’s what I’m sayin’!” The thugs echoed their support in loud cheers. “Fuck Shinra and fuck anyone who doesn’t like plushies!”

“Heard you were in here for terrorism charges.” One of the flunkies ventured. He sounded terrified now, but also impressed. “That true?”

Reeve opened his mouth to explain when the mechanical woosh of the door interrupted. He flinched back and reached for his gun before remembering Kyahaha had taken it. Right. That whole bullet to the head thing was apparently going to happen sooner than expected. It surprised him when his cellmates jumped forward, one of them wielding a broken pipe he’d ripped off the side of the wall.

“We got your back, stuffed animal.” The leader growled.

The solidarity was helpful, but unnecessary as the only threat that burst through the doors was a 4-year-old with a Lil Stamp backpack screaming, “Kitty!”

“Marlene!” Reeve jerked back as she crashed into him, clinging to his leg.

“You said you would be right back.” Marlene wailed.

“I know,” Reeve winced when she kicked him in the shin. “I’m sorry, I got held up.”

“I had to wait in the car all by myself,” she was still going off.

“I know, I’m sorry.” Reeve repeated.

“You can’t leave kids in cars, man.” The lead thug cast a judgmental scowl at him. “That’s messed up.”

“It wasn’t that hot out!” Reeve felt the need to defend himself.

“Don’t you know a car can reach thirty degrees above the outside temperature in direct sunlight?” That was weirdly articulate.

“It was in a parking garage and –”

“Someone smashed your window.” Marlene quit clinging to him and wiped her nose. She picked up Cait Sith #3, quickly distracted by the adorable plush.

The rising annoyance deflated like a punch to the gut. Reeve couldn’t muster words, only a sigh that was part groan. The GT-30 wasn’t even available to the public yet. With its sleek design and tech that had taken twenty years to refine, the jet black car was a marvel of innovation. He’d had to deal with that lard bucket Palmer just to negotiate an exorbitant price for the first model off the production line.

A price he’d paid with blood money.

The guilt washed over him again, crushing the misery of his new car being wrecked. “We need to go,” Reeve declared before the feeling had time to settle.

The thug tapped the pipe in his hand. “We’ll cover ya.”

“Thanks, but what I actually need is your phone.” Reeve pulled a USB from the box. He’d been prepared for the possibility that the data pad would be compromised or taken. If he plugged the small device into the phone, he could download the beta version of what he called “CatApp” and get Caith Sith #2 back online. It had been awhile since his last communication with AVALANCHE and the crew was probably furious with him. In future, it would be good to find a way to sync Cait Sith directly to his brain, like a microchip or a neurolink. Then he wouldn’t have to worry about devices.

Shrugging, the leader tossed the phone to him. “Good luck, stuffed animal.”

“Thanks,” Reeve murmured. He didn’t have time for a long farewell, but he did have time to confirm order on the limited edition House of Mog plush. It was the least he could do. Besides, the salary bonus felt dirty now. Spending it made the betrayal more bearable. He plugged the USB in and raced through the cell block, dragging Marlene by the arm. She held onto the box tightly with a look of stern determination. They probably had fifteen minutes tops before Gyahaha’s people noticed the prison break. “We need to take the stairs.”

The elevator was too populated. Cutting around the emergency exit, Reeve stopped short at the endless switch back of stairs leading down to the parking garage. He was an engineer for Gaia’s sake. Sitting at a desk for ten hours a day didn’t lend well to sprinting fifty flights. It couldn’t be helped. He took the box – and the unfinished Cait Sith #3 that now had animal cracker crumbs on it – from Marlene and hoisted her onto his back.

Heaving an already labored breath, Reeve whispered, “you can do this” and took the stairs two at a time. Around the twentieth floor, Cait Sith #2’s app finished loading. The phone vibrated in his front pocket.

Marlene grabbed it when the angry buzzing didn’t stop. “You have a lot of messages.”

“Great.” Reeve growled. He gritted his teeth. Better if he didn’t expend his energy talking. There were still thirty more floors and they were running out of time.

“My daddy says he’s gonna kick your ass if you don’t get me to my graduation day party.” Marlene read off one of the texts in her sweet, chirpy voice.

“Your what?” Reeve huffed.

“My preschool graduation day party.” Marlene sounded like she was beaming. “It’s today!”

Panting out another ragged breath, Reeve couldn’t bring himself to reply. He didn’t realize Marlene knew how to use a phone until he heard her talking into it. Her voice would’ve come through Cait Sith using the app.

“Hi, Daddy!” Marlene squealed. “Guess what! My babysitter went to jail and left me in a car –”

“Hang up!” Reeve screamed and ripped the phone out of her hands. He winced at the stream of cussing and threats from AVALANCHE’s gun armed, ecoterrorist leader. “All good. Going to the school now. Oh no, I’m out of WiFi range. Bye.”

Shoving the phone in his pocket, he hoisted Marlene to the floor. They’d arrived at the parking garage just in time for the lock down alarm to start blaring. He opened the car door and frowned at the litter of glass and frosted animal crackers. A sprinkly, headless cactaur was melting on the dash.

“Get in,” Reeve threw the box in the backseat and lifted Marlene into the passenger side. “Come on, hurry.” He swallowed the urgency in his tone. She was already looking over her shoulder, puzzled and starting to get scared. “I mean,” Reeve replaced the panic with a calm, cheerful demeanor. “We don’t want to be late for your graduation party, right?”

“Tifa says I’m never, ever supposed to sit in the front seat.” Marlene stopped with her foot on the edge. “It’s not safe.”

“Yeah, well,” Reeve heard the elevator ding in the distance. It was probably just another executive heading home after a long day, but the hair on the back of his neck stood up. “This car is magic so it’s okay.”

“But –”

Reeve threw Marlene into the seat and clicked the seatbelt around her as some last ditch effort at following child safety protocols. Then he dove into the driver’s side and peeled out of the garage as fast as the GT-30 allowed, which was pretty damn fast. His parking pass beeped and the gates flew up. Good. So they hadn’t disabled it yet. At least something about this day was going in his favor.

“Why are you driving so fast?” Marlene whined. “I don’t like going this fast.”

“I already told you, we’re going to be late.” Reeve flinched at the sight of headlights in the mirror. Four armored vehicles followed close behind. They hadn’t turned on their sirens yet, so maybe his car wasn’t recognizable. He took his foot off the gas and tried to act casual.

“Then you should’ve left earlier and not gone to jail!” Marlene kicked her heels against the seat. Tears stood in the corner of her big, brown eyes. He realized all too late that she’d been worried about him and now her fear was spiraling into a full blown tantrum.

“You’re right,” Reeve tried to calm her down while keeping an eye on the cars. “That was –”

“Stupid!”

“Uh huh.” The sirens turned on. The cars sped up. Reeve slammed the gas to the floor and whipped around the corner, onto the entry ramp of Midgar’s central highway. A bead of sweat traveled from his chin and collected around his collar.

Marlene jerked into the passenger’s side door, her head bouncing off the window.

“Shit,” Reeve took his eyes off the road long enough to notice the red mark on her forehead. Barret was going to kill him. “Hold onto the seat, alright?”

The controlled tone didn’t do any good. Marlene burst into a screaming, crying fit, flailing her arms across the dash and kicking at the console. Tears and snot dripped down her red face. “No! I don’t wanna! I wanna hear the Lil Stamp song!”

“Marlene, not now.” Reeve swerved between two cars, but they were quick to get out of the way of the SOLDIERs pursuing them. This wasn’t good. He saw one of the cars slow its speed long enough for a 3rd Class to roll down the window and aim his gun at them. Not good at all. He couldn’t drive any faster without colliding with the 5 o’clock traffic.

“Lil Stamp!” Marlene shrieked over and over again.

Reeve reached under his seat for his handgun. “Be quiet. You need to stop, I’m serious!” Horns honked at him as he veered away from the gunfire that was now raining down, trying to pop their tires or shatter a window and land a head shot.

Marlene only screamed louder.

Sucking in a deep breath, Reeve turned the radio up to ten to drown out the sound of gunshots. Marlene didn’t throw fits very often, but whenever she did, the only way to calm her down was singing her favorite song. She also wouldn’t go to sleep until he’d sung it at least three times. To say Reeve despised Lil Stamp was an understatement. Besides, he was a cat person. Nevertheless, he launched into the chorus, disgusted by the fact that he knew every word by heart. “Bow wow wow, bow wow wow, he’s a good boy who never stops, keeping the city safe for each and every one.”

Marlene stopped sniffling. “No, in the Cait Sith voice.”

Reeve turned around and shot through the conveniently broken window. His shot didn’t land, but the car pulled back a little. He switched into the pitchy drawl of the plush cat. It was more natural than his practiced inflection, but he hated to admit it. “Bow wow wow, bow wow wow, cause now he’s kicking bad guy butt. Knocking an adversary into the next week.”

Another hail of bullets rained down. Marlene clapped her hands and giggled. She handed him the mini rocket launcher stashed under her seat.

“Go all out, go all out, go all out Lil Stamp,” Reeve sang as he fired a shell into the nearest vehicle, reducing it to smoldering highway rubble. “You’ve got so much courage and everybody thinks you are swell.”

The exit ramp was in sight. Local streets would be easier to shake their pursuers. The car bumped violently as they screeched away from the highway.

“Fight for us, Lil Stamp,” Reeve was out of breath, but he kept singing like his life depended on it. “If only we could have such big hearts,” the radio beat flowed into the anthem. When he risked a glance in the mirror, he was relieved to see they’d shaken the SOLDIERs. Reeve relaxed his grip on the steering wheel. He wasn’t stupid enough to believe they were far behind. His foot stayed glued to the gas pedal. “And take a stand at Shinra.”

The last verse was interrupted by sirens. Reeve reached for the rocket launcher again, then let his hand slip away when he saw it was only a city guard car pulling them over. Of all the luck! Well, he was doing fifty over the speed limit.

Reeve sighed and pulled to the curb. He kicked the guns under the seat and frowned at the broken window and general ruined state of his car. “Evening, officer.” He grinned in as natural a manner as he could when the guard approached.

“Director Tuesti?” the man sounded astonished. He supposed he couldn’t blame him. It was a bit out of character for the Head of Urban Development. “Sir, I apologize, I didn’t recognize you.” He stuttered. “But, um, did – did you know you were going fifty over the speed limit?”

Reeve jerked his thumb at Marlene. “Yes, I need to get this child to a hospital. She ate an entire box of animal crackers.”

Marlene blinked up at the guard, then promptly faked throwing up all over the floor.

The officer cringed and backed away. “Right, of course, sir! We’ll escort you on. Don’t worry about the ticket. This is clearly an emergency.”

Two more cars pulled up behind him. The flurry of sirens added to the confusion, allowing them to lose their true pursuers and eventually leave the officers behind as well. Once they were in the clear, Reeve heaved a sigh and checked his phone. He thumbed past Barret’s angry messages and turned the volume up so he could listen to what was happening with Cloud and the others. They were discussing the reactor outputs. None of it was good, not after what Hojo had done.

“There’s nothing I can do.” Reeve repeated through Cait Sith. His executive level clearance would be shut down by now even if there was a way to fix the reactors. “Sorry, guys. I only have a stuffed animal body.”

That wouldn’t help the city any. Scarlet was right about Midgar. If he’d followed through with his mission, the people might’ve stood a chance. Reeve didn’t have it in him to regret his loyalty to AVALANCHE though. He’d told himself spying on the terrorists was for the greater good. That was what he’d told himself about the reactors, about Sector 7, about everything he’d done at Shinra. In the end, no good came of any of it. He had to draw a line somewhere even if that line meant abandoning all hope at protecting the people from within. 

He started to drive towards the highway again.

“Kitty,” Marlene tugged on his sleeve. “I don’t have my pink ribbon.”

It took Reeve half a second to recall that her pink ribbon was her favorite and they wouldn’t be able to go back for it any time soon. They wouldn’t be going back at all. “I’m sure your daddy will buy you a new one.”

“But I was gonna wear it to my graduation party.”

He was hoping she’d forget. He hadn’t actually meant they were going to her preschool. They needed to get out of Midgar, not waste time eating sprinkle cupcakes and singing songs. “The thing is,” Reeve prepared for the crushing disappointment and possible second tantrum of the day, but Marlene wasn’t done talking.

“Betty’s daddy is going to take her for ice cream after,” the little girl beamed, swinging her feet in the air. “And we’ve been practicing our song all year. And, and, and –” she stared down at her hands fidgeting in her lap. “Do you think Daddy can come?” When Reeve choked, she added, “I know he can’t come for real, but on the phone? Through the game?” Marlene thought Reeve played an online video game with her father and all their friends. Cait Sith was her favorite character because he let her control the toy cat sometimes.

“I don’t think he’ll be able to.” The highway was a block away. Squeezing his eyes shut, Reeve gritted his teeth and flipped a U-turn. “But we’ll take a picture for him, okay?”

“Kay!” Marlene seemed content enough with that. She rested her cheek on the window. “It’s getting really dark over there.”

Glancing at Meteor, hanging grim and certain over the smoggy skyline, Reeve nodded. “It’s just because of the eclipse. It’ll pass soon.”

She didn’t ask about it again until they arrived at Leaf House. The modest school in the middle of Sector 5 boasted a bright flower mosaic depicting a yellow chocobo running through purple blossoms. Marlene jumped out of the car and ran ahead. He could hear her telling her friends about the sky and how strange it looked. The kids chattered on about it until their teacher called them in. Reeve started forward when he noticed a group of moms staring at the bullet holes on the side of his car.

“Uh,” he forced a charming grin. “They almost look real, right? Paint jobs can do anything these days.” His awkward laughter trailed into silence and he hurried to find Marlene. When he caught up to her, she was standing by her teacher telling her all about the video game her babysitter played with her dad and how this last level was really tough.

“And who are you again?” Marlene’s teacher turned to him. She was a small, but imposing force in bright yellow glasses and a springy green blouse. Her eyes scanned a clipboard. “Let’s see. Tifa, Biggs, Wedge, Jesse, Cloud… I don’t see ‘Kitty’ on the list of Marlene’s babysitters.”

“It’s Reeve,” he supplied. “There, uh, wasn’t time to add me. The other sitters all fell through.”

“Right,” she dragged the word out. Skepticism narrowed her eyes, but she decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. “Well, Marlene has done great in finger painting this year and she loves reading. Her numbers are coming along too. She was so excited to show off her year end project. The kids all did pictures of a person in their life that they admire.”

“I’m sure her father will be thrilled.” Reeve managed. He felt like he was under the same scrutiny as he had when Scarlet was interrogating him. Luckily, he had enough information to build a convincing lie. Corel Prison hadn’t simply helped his street cred. The diversion had given him a means of completing his first objective; find a weakness and exploit it. Knowing that “it” was Barret’s kid made him a little sick in hindsight. He wouldn’t have known about Marlene at all if they hadn’t ended up in a shoot out with Dyne. In that moment, the crew trusted him without question. They believed Cait Sith was strong enough to fight alongside them, to be an asset rather than a hindrance.

“Ms. Folio, Kitty is really good at helping with reading, but not numbers.” Marlene told her teacher. “And he makes the best lunches.”

“Oh, so that’s why your bento boxes have been so creative lately.” Ms. Folio softened a bit.

“Yes, well,” Reeve was reminded of the time he tried to send Barret a cash app request for grocery reimbursement. That hadn’t been his wisest move. He suspected the distance was the only reason he was still breathing. “I’m actually not terrible at math either.” He had no idea why he wanted to prove to Ms. Folio that he indeed had an engineering degree. “It’s just the way you teach it nowadays is very confusing.”

She hid a snicker behind her hand.

“And you know what else?” For a kid that was shy and quiet most of the time, Marlene had her moments where she never shut up. “Kitty’s gonna help with our song. It’s a surprise so I didn’t tell him yet.”

Sweet Gaia, no.

Ms. Folio had already produced a ukulele. “That’s fantastic! We love it when parents and friends join in. Let’s all sit in a circle now.” She smirked at Reeve’s resigned misery. “Well, sounds like you know a lot about Lil Stamp. Care to lead?”

Drawing a breath, Reeve began in as monotone a voice as he could manage, “Bow wow wow, bow wow wow, he’s a good boy who never stops, keeping the city safe for each and every one.”

Marlene squealed and soon all the preschoolers joined in. “Bow wow wow, bow wow wow, cause now he’s kicking bad guy butt. Knocking an adversary into the next week.”

Ms. Folio kept the beat with her ukulele.

“Go all out, go all out, go all out Lil Stamp,” the anthem sang on and Reeve bopped his head tortuously as Ms. Folio made everyone clap in tune. “You’ve got so much courage and everybody thinks you are swell. Fight for us, fight for us, fight for us, Lil Stamp. If only we could have such big hearts. And take a stand at Shinra.” 

Once the singing was over, the kids ran around screeching, showing off their year end projects to their parents, attacking the snack table with sticky little fingers. Marlene was halfway through her second cupcake when she blurted out that Reeve was so good at singing the Lil Stamp song because he was really important at Shinra.

“My babysitter went to jail today,” she declared by way of impressing her friends. The kids – and their parents – all turned to look at him.

“Okay, that’s enough make believe time.” Reeve yanked her away from the crowd. “Let’s take a picture and send it to your dad so we can get out of here.” He searched around for a newspaper, but all he could find was the Leaf House newsletter. Close enough. It still had today’s date on it.

Ms. Folio hurried over. “Oh, want me to take it?”

“Uh,” Reeve wasn’t sure what to do, so he handed her the phone. “Sure.”

Marlene held the newsletter up and smiled.

“Don’t you want to be in the picture?” Ms. Folio lowered the phone in confusion.

“No,” Marlene answered for him. “Only the newspaper has to be in it.”

Reeve scrambled over so she’d quit talking. “Of course, yes, that’s why people take pictures to, uh, commemorate this preschool, um, graduation thing. Smile, Marlene!”

The phone blinked once and Ms. Folio handed it back.

“Thanks,” Reeve murmured as he sent the picture to Barret. Marlene had her cubby cleaned out and it looked like they could leave without a tantrum now. He lifted his chin and met Ms. Folio’s eyes. “Listen, there’s a situation in the city right now.”

She raised her eyebrows. “And in the sky.”

“Yeah, that too.” Reeve wasn’t sure which was worse; Meteor, the reactor failure, or the soon to be anarchy at Shinra HQ. “You should leave. Tell everyone to take their families and get out of Midgar.”

A long pause elapsed. When she spoke again, it wasn’t to question the information. “I understand.” He thought she might walk away and attend to the class, but she surprised him by asking another question instead. “Are you in some sort of trouble?”

“What makes you say that?” Reeve tried to act surprised.

Ms. Folio held up her phone. A news alert flashed across it about a fugitive that looked an awful lot like him. “Call it a hunch.”

“Oh, right.”

Ms. Folio chewed on her lip. “There’s a van out back. You should ditch the car. They’ll recognize it.” The eternal optimism returned to her face and she grinned. “Come on.” With a wave of her hand, Marlene’s teacher lead them out the side door and into a shed. A beat up van was parked on the lawn next to it. “I know it doesn’t look like much, but she’s fast and reliable. The kids call her Shadowfox. They think it’s my secret monster fighting van.”

Well, with the monsters they were fighting it wouldn’t hurt. Reeve dropped the keys to the GT-30 in her hand. “Thank you.”

She nodded. “Get Marlene somewhere safe. I’ll take care of things in Sector 5. We’re tougher than you think.”

Marlene came running up with Cait Sith #3 in her arms. “I got the kitty!”

“Alright, let’s go.” Reeve turned and started up the clunker. It wasn’t a bad ride once he got used to it. A few modifications and the van could be a mobile HQ. Shadowfox, huh? He could work with that.

“You missed it.” Marlene was looking out the window.

“Missed what?”

“The turn.” She held Cait Sith #3 tight against her chin. “Aren’t we going home?”

Reeve didn’t say anything until they were on the highway, headed for Kalm. “We can’t go back there.”

“Like the bar?” Marlene was too used to losing homes. Her quick acceptance made him wince. “Where are we gonna go now?”

“Remember Aerith’s mom? Ms. Elmyra?” Reeve asked.

“Yeah,” Marlene perked up a little. “She’s nice. I like her.”

“She’s going to take care of you for awhile.” That should make her happy.

“Where are you gonna be?”

“I have to go back to work.” Reeve forced a laugh.

“With the people that shot at us?” Marlene squeaked.

It was hard to keep all the stories straight. “No, no, that was just a misunderstanding. I need to go back to Midgar after I drop you off and make sure everyone is ready for the eclipse.”

Marlene was quiet for a minute. When she spoke again, she seemed satisfied with that. “Cause that’s your job, huh? Keeping the city safe, just like Lil Stamp?”

“Right.” A cartoon dog did a better job at it than he did. When he’d sacrificed the original Cait Sith to help out AVALANCHE, it felt like a turning point. A change. Then it all came crashing down again and he realized he was the same weak, stuffed animal he’d always been. An echo of the last non-ragey conversation he’d had with Barret still burned in his head. He’d shouted at Reeve to do something, anything. That if he was a human, a person who cared about this world, he would’ve done something.

In the end, he couldn’t.

Reeve glanced at #3. It wasn’t finished and there was no chance at finishing it now. No point taking it to Midgar. It wouldn’t help with the evacuation. Going back was a suicide run anyway. He doubted he’d be able to make a difference. Who was even going to listen to him?

But he had to try.

Marlene was half asleep by the time they reached Kalm. He carried her inside Elmyra’s house. Like most of the under plate, she’d left before things got bad. Without her daughter, there wasn’t much holding her there. And now Reeve was adding to that burden by dumping Marlene on her yet again. She said it wasn’t any trouble and he hoped the company was at least some solace.

Reeve turned and made his way back to Shadowfox. Meteor loomed bright and eerie calm in the sky. It seemed so final, so fixed. Whatever good he could still do for the city, he’d do it.

“Wait!” Marlene stood on the porch. She dashed down the short drive and handed him a piece of bright pink construction paper. “I know my daddy doesn’t work for the neighborhood watch.” She crossed her arms and scowled up at him. “And I know Cait Sith isn’t part of a game. It’s real, just like that thing in the sky is real.”

“Marlene –”

“That’s what you’re gonna save the city from, right?” She tugged at his arm. “You didn’t get to see my drawing yet.”

Heaving a sigh, Reeve smoothed the paper and stared down at the crayon doodle of Cait Sith and a person in a suit. Giant, wobbly letters declared, “Reeve is the best because he loves Midgar and wants to make it good for everyone.”

“I like Kitty, but Reeve is the person I admire most cause he tries really hard.” Marlene declared. “Daddy says everybody makes mistakes. What’s important is making it better again. I’m counting on you, okay? Come back real soon so we can have more adventures.”

Reeve felt a genuine smile cross his face and wondered when the last time that had happened was. He ruffled Marlene’s hair and tucked the drawing in his pocket. “Promise.”


End file.
